Rachel
Giulia didn’t seem to mind that I kept yawning. Neither did Indy. They just worked around the yawns.
I’d slept for two hours, but I felt worse now than I did before I lay down for a nap.
My eyelids drifted to rest on the crests of my cheeks, a move which they took full advantage of—Indy started sweeping shadow over the lids, while Giulia glued lashes on after the fact.
That I was slumped against my armchair didn’t seem to bother them.
“You drug her or something?” I heard Indy mutter.
“If she wasn’t pregnant, I might have thought about it, but nope, the kiddo did this for me.”
I squinted at her. “Why would I need to be drugged?”
“Because Giulia’s painting you like you’re a scarlet woman.”
Giulia tutted. “No, I ain’t. We’re making her look the part.”
“Of a whore?”
“No such thing as a whore in modern society. Outside of clubwhores. They’re the fucking worst.”
If Giulia had been a man, she’d have probably spat at that.
I was mostly glad she didn’t spit on my Persian carpet.
“Nice to know you’re a feminist when required,” Indy sniped.
“Just because you can’t sit down, don’t give me none of your sass, Indiana Sisson.”
“Why can’t you sit down?”
Giulia cackled at my question. “Yeah, Indy, why can’t you?”
“No reason.”
The sister-in-law-from-hell snorted. “She’ll find out soon enough.”
Indy huffed. “Cruz is my Dom.”
“Your Dom?” I repeated, my brow furrowing. “How do you…” I hesitated. “…do that after everything that happened to you?”
She paused in what she was doing and, slowly, reflected, “He liberates me from the memories. Takes the control away from me, and I trust him so I know he’d never do anything to trigger me.”
“He spanks you?” I questioned, thinking about the last BDSM romance book I’d read, but that was far too long ago.
“Spanks? More like whoops her butt. You should see her wriggling around on her stool at work. Looks as if she has ants in her damn pants.”
“Giulia,” Indy hissed. “Shut the fuck up.”
My hand snapped out, and I curved my fingers around Indy’s wrist. “It’s consensual?”
Indy rumbled, “Yes. Of course.”
“No ‘of course’ about it. I just wanted to make sure.”
She shot me a wary smile. “Thank you. For checking. But no, Cruz doesn’t do anything I don’t already want.”
“I don’t get it,” Giulia mumbled. “Who wants the pain when there’s so much pleasure to be had?”
“Says you with the guy whose dick might as well be a studded baseball bat,” I mocked.
Indy whined, “Ew.”
Giulia preened. “I can take every inch.”
“TMI, Giulia.”
“You started it.”
“Did not,” I grumbled. “I was making a point.”
“If I really thought about it,” Indy mused, “I could imagine Rex has Dom tendencies.”
I snorted. “Not really. If he has, I terrified them out of him with my wailing and moaning.”
“Not the good kind, huh?” Giulia queried sympathetically.
“No. The nightmare kind. Used to be if he tugged on my hair, I’d run for the hills.” My nose crinkled. “I don’t think I’d like being spanked anyway.”
“You never know if you don’t try it. You have to keep so many things under control, wouldn’t it be nice not to have to think?” Indy mused. “I know I appreciate it. When Cruz takes over, I go into autopilot.”
“Why would you want that though?”
She shrugged. “Less want, more need. Used to be that I’d fuck and I’d just lie there, and guys would get off, and I’d feel like a slut, but I was reaching for something I didn’t understand.
“That happened with Cruz, but he didn’t just let me lie there. He sees shit that no one else ever has. It’s reassuring and annoying all at the same time.”
My lips twitched. “I’m glad he makes you happy.”
“He really does.”
Smile fully blossoming, I tilted my head back. “You can finish painting me up like a scarlet woman.”
Twenty minutes later, I actually felt like a scarlet woman as well.
My makeup was less neutral than I was comfortable with, and Giulia had somehow managed to find a pair of pants in my closet that I didn’t even know I’d bought.
I wouldn’t put it past her to pretend that she’d found them there when she’d purchased them for me but I didn’t complain.
My exhaustion bought her my docility, and maybe that was what this evening required—if I was drunk on the need to sleep, I’d be able to endure a night of bad music, raucous crowds, intoxicated men and women bickering on the dance floor, and pretending to be interested when I really just wanted to climb into bed.
With Rex.
I tacked that on because the idea of spending the night in my lonely bed didn’t sit well with me anymore.
Toeing into the heels Giulia had set out, I gave a final yawn as she primped my hair, sliding her hand over the crown to smooth out any stray flyaways, which was when Indy whistled under her breath.
“Surprised you’re letting her get away with this, Rach.”
“She’s my Second Lady. Gotta have faith in her, don’t I?” I mumbled sleepily.
Giulia, grinning wide, tugged me in front of the mirror on the back of my closet door.
I peered at myself, sighed, and muttered, “I’m too tired for Rex to fuck me over his desk.”
“That wasn’t the reaction I was aiming for.”
“What? For Rex to want to bone me?” I asked around a chuckle.
“No. I wanted you to stand out so that everyone would know to back off.”
“More like the Prez will want to claim me in front of everyone.”
Indy cackled. “She has a point, Giulia. I’m not gay, and I think even I’d fuck her.”
I snorted. “Thanks, Indy.”
“Very welcome, Rach. You’re owning your Crybaby moment.”
I tugged on the pants, ruffled up the sweater, and complained, “More like my Sandy from Grease moment. Although I think Sandy’s pants left more to the imagination than these do.”
“Stop messing with the clothes,” Giulia grumbled. “You won’t be able to fit in these for much longer. And if you still can, then I need to work on fattening you up. This is your second kid; you should be showing more than you are. What did your OB/GYN say? You’ve been to visit one, right?”
“She said I’m underweight.”
She sniffed. “No shit, Sherlock. Don’t worry, I’ll feed you.”
“Pasta puttanesca?” I asked hopefully.
“As much of that as kiddo can stand before you puke.” She patted my arm. “You look great, Rachel. Feel it?”
“I guess. I’m very…” I wafted a hand around my hips and chest.
“‘Exposed’ is the word you’re looking for,” Indy mocked.
I’d worn skimpier outfits to galas, but this wasn’t a gala. I was going into a bar where people actively had sex. That changed the parameters of a scenario.
A part of me wondered why I wasn’t freaking the hell out, but maybe I didn’t have to wonder.
Maybe it was just faith—in Rex. In Giulia. In Indy, even.
Giulia shot her a dark look. “Hush. She looks awesome. I want her to go in there and turn heads.”
“She’ll turn heads, all right. Rex is probably going to get into a fight before the night’s over.”
I gave her a soft smile. “You think so?”
Indy snorted. “I know so.”
The pants were drainpipe—clinging to the slender length of my legs with a closeness that only came from good tailoring. There was a crease so sharp running down the length that it looked as if I could cut myself. Tucked into that was a low-cut sweater that bared my shoulders and most of my chest.
Not unlike Sandy’s rebellious outfit at the end of Grease, the sleeves hooked around my upper arm but the deep cut of mine made hers look innocent by comparison.
On my feet, I had a pair of red wedges, which made the black outfit all the sassier. Combined with the fact my lips were painted the same cherry apple red, and my hair was oiled back in a tight bun like the women in a Robert Palmer music video, I looked sexy.
It had been a long time since I’d aimed for that. Seemed weird that I’d be doing it tonight when I was more interested in climbing into my bed for anything other than sex.
Nyx called from downstairs, “Giulia! Where the fuck are you?”
She grinned at us. “He’s such a gent.” At him, she screeched, “Is it my fucking fault your hellspawn makes getting in and out of clothes impossible?”
Nyx, sensibly, didn’t answer.
She tucked her hand in mine, grabbed Indy, hooked her arm through her SIL’s, and dragged us down to the hall.
Unsurprisingly, Nyx didn’t seem to notice me.
He glared at Giulia. “That dress doesn’t fit.”
“It does,” she countered, jiggling her tits in the low-cut neckline.
“You want me to break bones tonight, baby, I will,” he threatened, his tone darkening, as much as his gaze did.
Nyx obviously wanted to be in a bed too. Except he wasn’t thinking about sleep.
“They shouldn’t look at what they can’t touch,” Giulia practically purred, which had Nyx clenching his jaw.
“You shouldn’t wear heels. What if you fall?”
“Going to be glued to you all night,” she retorted instantly. “You won’t let me fall.”
His mouth tightened next. “Where’s your jacket?”
“I’m running hot.”
“You’re running fucking something,” he sniped. “You’re goddamn trouble, you know that?”
She let go of both Indy and me and hurled herself at him. His hands went to her hips, hers went to his chest. “Just keeping you on your toes.”
He grunted, and I chose to ignore the fact that he cupped her ass and practically demolished her in the hallway.
Indy and I, deciding that escape was the safest option, walked out together once I’d dragged on a coat.
“You think that was bad,” I quipped as we maneuvered the hill and started toward the compound. “You should hear them when they argue.”
Indy grumbled, “I already see way too much at work.”
“They have more sex in a night than I had all of last year.”
Indy taunted, “I figure this year will be different.”
“I figure you’re right,” I teased, oddly warmed when Indy slotted her hand through my arm much as Giulia had done earlier.
“The whores are going to be there. Did Giulia tell you?” Indy warned.
“She didn’t.” My nose crinkled. “I don’t think I have much to worry about.”
“I’m not worried about you,” she drawled. “I’m worried about Giulia. If Kendra’s back, and if she sniffs around Nyx, there’ll be hell to pay.”